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Sunday, November 27, 2011

Accommodation, a common theological doctrine, “refers to the need for God’s revelation to be adapted (accommodated) to human capabilities of understanding and reception.”Essential Theological Terms by Justo Gonzalez.

Most Christians operate under some form of an understanding of accommodation. Even the most literal modern Christian reader will agree that when the Bible refers to the sun "coming up," it is using human terms, not divine terms, of relating to the earth's movement around the sun. Accommodation is an idea believed by early Church fathers such as Augustine, and Reformed theologians such as Calvin-- thus, it is not a new idea. But the gist of it is that God did not, for the Hebrews' (and later the Greek Christians') own sake, make them throw out their entire culture and everything they understood about government, slavery, male-female relations, etc. Instead, throughout the Scriptures God sowed seeds of a more loving, more freeing way of thinking that began to bear fruit in those cultures and continues to do so today.To understand the Scriptures as an interaction between God and humanity is to understand that God's voice must of necessity speak through the limitations of the views of the culture in which the interaction happened. That the limitations of human understanding are preserved in the Scriptures, is hardly surprising. The doctrine of accommodation is what makes it possible to understand the Bible as the result of an interaction between the inspiration of God and the writings of human beings.

Without this understanding of accommodation, modern non-Christians find it impossible to take the Bible seriously as any kind of model for modern faith and practice. The non-Christian generally sees the Bible as solely a product of its culture. They understand that the Bible comes from a variety of ancient cultures over a long period of time. They also understand that the cultures were violent, racist, patriarchal and often uncivilized by today’s standards-- and they don't see any reason to look more deeply than that. They're not looking for the voice of God speaking through and to patriarchal peoples; they aren't looking for the voice of God in the Scriptures at all. All they see is the voice of primitive humanity in ancient religious writings, steeped in ancient, barbaric cultures-- and that's that.

This understanding isn’t helped by the fact that many literalist Christian readers, in the name of “inerrancy,“ tend to forget about accommodation as well: They view the Bible as if it were a “memo from the Boss” (Metacrock’s phrase) dictated this morning and left on our desks. They tend to discount the role of humans in the writing of the Scriptures, seeing them as mere conduits for a word-for-word transmission of the message directly from God. Such a message must be viewed to be as timeless as God is; therefore, the perspective of human culture doesn’t matter. Whatever God appears to our eyes to have said to the church at Ephesus or Corinth is the same thing God is saying to us today. It is very difficult to be consistent with this idea, however; most Christians do not actually follow Paul’s command to “greet one another with a holy kiss,” but instead view it as merely a principle of showing love to another; but in many other areas, such as women not being church leaders, they believe anyone who thinks there might be a cultural element that has passed away, is rebelling in his or her heart against the “clear command of God.” This kind of thinking has led many sects of Christianity to retreat from the modern world into a sort of first-century holding-tank where practices and ideas from Bible times must become our own way of life.

Non-Christians, seeing this, are confirmed in their belief that the Scriptures are only a set of barbaric, primitive writings-- and they view with horror the idea that anyone would want to give the Bible any place of authority in their lives. Both the non-Christian and the Bible literalist, then, view with suspicion any Christian who gives the doctrine of accommodation more of a place by taking the historical-cultural context into greater account. But I find that understanding the Bible as God’s story, told through human writers within human mindsets, makes the Bible a thing of beauty and wisdom for my life. I am not stuck trying to follow first-century cultural mindsets as if they were the will of God. And I am not required to reject the Bible as having anything worthwhile to say today.

It seems to me that seeing the Bible as entirely the work of humans, or almost entirely the work of God (with humans as little more than pencils in His hand), yields pretty much the same result. Each sees only one side of the coin. They see opposite sides-- but what they each end up with is a half-coin, with only one face-- and thus with no real spending power.

I believe that the way to treat the Bible with the most respect is to try our best to understand what the original, human authors understood themselves to be saying, taking into account their human limitations. That way, we do not fall into an inadvertent re-formulation of a passage's meaning based on our own modern mindset (or our lack of understanding of shared Ancient Near East assumptions). And we can focus on the inspiration of God that still speaks to us today.

Friday, November 18, 2011

A grass-roots movement has been growing for the last 20 years among evangelical/fundamentalist Christian families. Using a literalistic approach to the Bible, these families withdraw from modern culture into a strict patriarchal structure where birth control of any kind is eschewed and fathers control an ever-growing brood of children, home-schooled by a submissive wife. Considering children to be a “quiver of arrows” in the culture-wars over “family values,” people in this movement describe themselves in many terms. “Quiverfull” is perhaps the most convenient.

This movement defines Christianity largely in terms of the raising up of “godly families” to lift up God’s standards to the surrounding culture. Women are asked to lay down any individual hopes and dreams, for the sake of motherhood as their “highest calling.” The wife is there to support the vision and calling of the father, and the children are to do the same until (if they are boys) they become fathers themselves, or (if they are girls) they are given by their father to a husband, so that they can fulfill their own call to motherhood. Women can also have a ministry in this movement of teaching other women to be good wives and mothers-- but all of a woman’s existence revolves around these roles.

But as we look at Jesus’ practices and teachings, and the practices and teachings of the apostles, we simply don’t find anything to indicate that the kingdom of God that they preached about consists of, or is to be ushered in by, the raising up of “godly” families-- or any evidence that this is what the kingdom consists of for women.

The best way to determine the main message Jesus preached is to look at His words at the beginning and the end of each gospel: the words that set up and wrap up His earthly ministry. Matthew 4:17 encapsulates Jesus’ basic message like this: “From that time Jesus began to preach and say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” In a nutshell, Jesus taught that His listeners should listen to His message and change their ways, for a new kingdom was coming and was already among them. Most of the rest of what He taught was either a fleshing out of what He meant by “repent,” or of what He meant by “the kingdom of heaven” -- or both.

Luke’s gospel sums it up best. Jesus began His ministry by teaching that the Scriptures about the coming of the Messiah had been fulfilled in Him (Luke 4:18), and wrapped it up by saying that He had completed “what was written” about Him, and that “repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations. . . and ye are witnesses of these things.” Luke 24:47-48.

Jesus’ message was that He was bringing in the kingdom of heaven through His life, death and resurrection. The kingdom, He taught, was a new way of simply being in harmony with God, a new way of living in God’s abiding presence (John 15:10) which would grow and mix with all of life until it had changed everything. (Matt 13:31-33) The kingdom is characterized by loving our enemies (Matt 5:44), laying down power and authority (Matt. 20:25-28), and putting our trust in Christ (John 3:15). Jesus said nothing whatsoever to His disciples or to the people along the lines of “Now go and marry godly women and raise up children to be arrows for the kingdom of heaven, to raise up God’s standard in the culture around you.” He said instead that His followers were to “go and make disciples” to follow Him as he had taught them. Matt. 28:19. In a patriarchal society that was very focused on fatherhood, Jesus consistently taught that human fatherhood was not to be the focus of His disciples: “And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven.” Matt. 23:9.

Paul showed throughout his ministry that he had dedicated himself to this message and no other. 2 Cor. 5:20; Gal. 1:8. The only other injunction that was laid on Paul (besides being an ambassador calling, “be reconciled with God”) was that he should “remember the poor.” Gal. 2:10. And though Paul taught principles for the conduct of marriage and family, he did not treat marriage or family as anyone’s “high calling” -- rather, he taught that marriage was one option only, for both men and women: “I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I.” 1 Cor. 7:8.

If the calling of women as Christ’s followers is a call to homemaking, marriage and motherhood-- if women’s place is to serve their families and support their husbands in their callings-- then what can we say about Christ’s words to Martha in Luke 11:38-42? Martha was working in the kitchen to prepare a meal for the men while Mary joined the other disciples and sat “at Jesus’ feet” (which meant to be taught as a disciple -- see Acts 22:3). Martha was fulfilling everything this teaching says it is a woman’s role to do-- but it was Martha, not Mary, whom Jesus rebuked for focusing on what was not “needful.” And it was Mary whom He defended as having chosen “the good part.” Jesus said nothing to either of them about getting married, having children, and supporting their husbands’ callings. Instead He commended Mary for choosing to sit with the other disciples and be a disciple herself.

Homemaking, marriage and family are simply not held up in the Scriptures as the focus of the kingdom of heaven for anyone-- and women as well as men can be co-workers in the gospel (see Phil. 4:3). Many women traveled with Jesus in His earthly ministry (Luke 8:2-3), and Paul commended many women in Romans 16 for their discipleship. Neither Paul nor Jesus ever told these women that they should be home having children and taking care of the house.*

I believe the idea that Christianity is about getting married and raising up children to be “godly arrows” in warfare against worldly cultures, is a distortion of the gospel that Jesus brought, and of everything He came to do. In Him men and women alike are set free. I would encourage anyone who wants to follow Jesus, to stick with what Jesus actually taught, and not to be distracted by what Paul would have called “another gospel.”

----------------*Paul did tell Titus that younger women should be taught to love their husbands and children and be "keepers" of the home-- but that word was the same word used for the "keeper" of the garden where Jesus was buried. It did not mean "homemaker" or "housekeeper," but "guard/watcher." And he said this should be done so that the gospel movement would not get a bad reputation in the surrounding (patriarchal) culture they were trying to reach-- not so that women would be restricted to "keeping the home" and nothing else. Titus 2:4-5 (compare with Romans 16:1-15).

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) was one of the most powerful abbesses of medieval times. She ruled a Benedictine convent on the Rhine in what is now Germany. Hildegard is best known for her “waking visions,” in which she beheld a brilliant light and received revelations from God. Corresponding with kings, bishops and popes long before the Reformation, Hildegard pleaded for reform within the clergy, and her writings begged readers to look to the Scriptures as their authority and to Christ for salvation, rather than to priests. In addition to her visionary writings, theological treatises, plays and music, Hildegard also wrote books on medicine and nature. Her book on what is now called gynecology, from a female perspective, was possibly the first of its kind.

The tenth child of a well-to-do family, Hildegard was committed at birth to the newly-formed women’s wing of a Benedictine monastery. In time she became the abbess herself. She was probably subject to migraines, which accounted for the sensation of brilliant light she had during her visions, but not for the wisdom and beauty that she was able to impart to others.

Hildegard’s visions included a vision of the Trinity as “living light” in which “fire and light” surround a “human figure.” She often used the Latin feminine form “sapienta Dei” (“Wisdom of God”) to describe Christ, equating Christ with the female figure of Wisdom in the book of Proverbs. In a time when women were regarded as being by nature inferior to men, Hildegard suffered from self-doubt and a sense of inferiority-- but she never doubted the truth of her visions, which did not take part in the binary masculine-vs.-feminine of the theology of the times. Instead, she saw the nature of God as containing both masculine and feminine aspects in balance, and the female form as a source of creative power in its own right, rather than as simply a receptacle for male procreation. Hildegard’s views raised women above the limitations imposed on them through male-centric theology.

For 13 years, beginning in 1158, Hildegard traveled from monastery to convent to city cathedral, preaching to monks, nuns and clergymen alike, imparting her visions and wisdom. She claimed to carry messages directly from God, warning against a “supposed sanctity” that sought reputation and a good name rather than true service and good works. Though she herself embraced her monastic calling, she was against children being committed to it against their will, as she had been.

Hildegard was one of many women of her age who found that though the church officially limited her teaching authority to other women only, her visions, considered to be a direct impartation from God, carried her over those limitations and gave her a vehicle to impart not only her visions, but all of her creativity, knowledge and ideas, to the church as a whole.

Towards the end of her life, Hildegard opposed her ecclesiastical superiors by allowing a nobleman who had been excommunicated to be buried on holy ground, saying that God had revealed to her in a vision that the burial was to be allowed. When the church ordered the body exhumed, Hildegard, fully convinced that the man was forgiven by God, hid the grave so that they could not locate the site and remove the body. For this she and her convent were forbidden communion and the singing of hymns. Hildegard appealed the ruling to higher church authorities and was eventually exonerated.

But Hildegard was no mere rebel. Throughout her life, she did what she believed was right, regardless of cost to herself-- and yet she upheld church leadership and order, and opposed those sects considered heretical in her day. She was, in every sense that we use the words today, a church leader-- and one full of integrity and worthy of respect.

Thursday, November 10, 2011

In Part 3 we did the first half of Step Five of my analysis: an examination of the meaning of the original Greek words and grammar. Finally, now, we come to the conclusion-- my interpretation, in which I will go phrase by phrase from the Concordant Literal translation used at the end of Part 3.

“Let a woman be learning in quietness with all subjection.”
There is a question at this point as to whether Paul is referring to “woman” as a collective or as singular. The switch from the plural “women” in the preceding verse to the indefinite singular “woman” in this verse appears to indicate a change of subject. Paul therefore may be no longer talking about "women" in general, but about "a woman" in particular. If so, he does not name this particular woman, so whether he means women in general, or one specific woman, cannot be conclusively stated. However, there are very good reasons to think he might be talking about just one woman, which I will detail below.

In any event, since “Let be learning” is the only verb form in the entire passage which is in the command form, I believe this sentence is the controlling sentence of this passage. Whatever else Paul says, he says in view of the need for “a woman” to "learn." In a society where women were largely denied education, Paul’s command that she is to learn sounds a clear counter-cultural note. “Quietness” and "subjection," according to their Greek meanings, do not denote silence and subordination, but rather that she should have an attitude of receptivity and willingness to yield, as is fitting for any student.

“Now I am not permitting a woman to be teaching nor yet to be domineering over a man, but to be in quietness.”Notice that Paul does not say, “Timothy, do not permit a woman.” Nor does he say, "A woman is forbidden." Instead, Paul uses the word “I” and puts the verb in present tense, indicating a current action. Since Paul looked upon the church at Ephesus as uniquely his church, and since Timothy’s ministry there is a temporary measure during Paul’s absence-- and since Timothy’s main role was to stop false teaching-- I believe Paul is giving Timothy Paul’s own authority to act for Paul in a specific situation of false teaching by “a woman,” the effect of which is to domineer over “a man” (indefinite noun again). It is unlikely Paul is making any kind of policy about all women being forbidden to teach, or to teach in church meetings, because the facts are on the table that Paul did indeed permit women to teach and commended them for teaching. Junia was “outstanding among the apostles,” and it would be impossible to be an apostle (one who has the role of planting churches) without teaching church groups about Christ. And Paul simply cannot be forbidding women to “have authority” because that is not what the word “authenteo” means. What is clear is that false teaching is a real problem in the church at Ephesus and that Paul’s main purpose in writing to Timothy was to deal with this issue.

As I mentioned, it is the norm in Koine Greek, when one refers to “woman” and “man” together, that they are married to one another. Given the Greek construction, Paul could be saying, “Now I am not permitting this certain woman to be teaching-and-domineering over her husband, but to be learning in quietness.” If Paul is talking about women in general, and not a particular woman, it is a puzzle as to why he switches from the plural “women” in verses 9 and 10, to the singular “a woman” in verse 11. Be that as it may, I will also take into account that Paul might be speaking of “woman” in a generic sense, meaning “all the women in the church.”

“For Adam was first molded, thereafter Eve, and Adam was not seduced.”
As I stated in Part 3, I believe Paul is using Adam and Eve an example. The word “for” in the Greek includes the meaning “for example.“ Also, Paul specifically states in 1 Cor. 10:11 that he considers the Old Testament stories to be “for an example” and “for instruction” to the Christian churches. He says nothing about using them to “ground” a teaching of his, in order to render that teaching timeless and universal. In 2 Cor. 11:3 Paul specifically refers to Eve as an example, in a situation having to do with a particular circumstance of false teaching that he was afraid would deceive the Corinthian church. His reference to Eve there has nothing to do with “grounding” anything Paul is saying in order to make it timeless and universal.

It is most likely here in 1 Timothy 2 as well, that the reference to Adam and Eve is being used as an example only. There is no particular reason to believe that the Creation order set up a pre-Fall authority hierarchy of Adam over Eve, which Paul is claiming should be followed in this letter to Timothy. There is nothing in the actual Creation texts that says so. The only real way to read a Creation-order based hierarchy in Genesis 1 and 2 is to read it in from 1 Timothy 2:11-15. To then use the Creation-order hierarchy you have read into Genesis, as a “grounding” of hierarchy in 1 Timothy 2, is circular reasoning: Genesis 1 and 2 say there’s a hierarchy because 1 Timothy 2 says so, and 1 Timothy 2 says there’s a hierarchy because Genesis 1and 2 say so. But that only works as long as you stay inside the circle.

The emphasis on Adam being “first molded” is more significant in light of the fact that “Adam was not seduced.” That is what the actual text of 1 Timothy 2:13-14 says. If we then look at this in light of the controlling idea “let a woman learn,“ the most likely idea is that since Adam was made before Eve, he had learning (experience in naming the animals, for example) that Eve was lacking. Adam, unlike Eve, had seen the serpent before, because he had named it. Because of this, he was "not seduced" (or "deceived"). He still sinned, but not through deception.

The situation is probably similar in the problem Paul is addressing. An unlearned woman or women are teaching deception because she/they have not had adequate learning before beginning to teach.

I don’t believe Paul’s idea here is to blame Eve for the first sin, because in his letter to the Romans he places the responsibility squarely on Adam. Here he says that Eve sinned because she was deceived, but Adam sinned even though he knew better. The situation for women in Ephesus parallels this. They have not been permitted to learn and therefore, like Eve, they have become deceived.

(Paul may also, as a side note, be asserting this orthodox idea of the order of creation in refutation of the proto-Gnostic teaching that Eve was created first, that the Fall was a good thing, and that Eve was the wise one who led Adam into enlightenment. But in any case, it all appears related to the “teaching-and-domineering” of an unlearned woman or women.)

“. . . yet the woman, being deluded, has come to be in the transgression.”
Here is the phrase that supports the notion that Paul is talking about one woman in a current situation. Since Paul was a teacher and a scholar, we must believe that he chose the exact verb form he meant to use. This verb form refers to an ongoing state of affairs that continues into the present. But how can he say of Eve, “she has come to be, and still is, in the transgression”? And why does he first speak of Adam and Eve by name, but then switch to “Adam” and “the woman”?

There is a common grammar structure in Koine Greek where a statement will begin with an indefinite singular noun (such as “a woman”), and then the noun will be repeated with a definite article later on. When this happens, both nouns are to be construed as referring to the same person or thing. An example of this occurs in John 4:7-9: “A woman of Samaria” in verse 7 is the same person as “the woman of Samaria” in verse 9. So when Paul says “the woman” instead of “Eve,” the grammatical construction refers back to “a woman” in the preceding sentence.

The only way Paul could be speaking of Eve as still being in transgression, is if he is referring to Eve in a typological sense as representing all women, with Eve’s sin as a type for all women’s sin. He does do something like this with Adam in Romans 5. So it may be possible that he is doing that with Eve here. But it’s also possible that he is talking about a particular woman but not referring to her by name, out of grace, in order to protect her.

“Yet she shall be saved through the child bearing, if ever they should be remaining in faith and love and holiness with sanity.”
We can only assume Paul knew what he was doing in switching from “she” to “they” in the same phrase. The two pronouns could not both be referring to "women in general."

“She” can mean either Eve, or a particular woman who is practicing false teaching and domineering over her husband. “The childbearing” (or "the chilbirth") refers to the bearing of the “seed of woman” as referred to in the Adam and Eve story-- ie., the Christ. So-- if this is about one particular woman who is in transgression, “they” probably means she and her husband together. If this woman will join with her husband in faith, love and holiness with clear-headedness (rejecting the false teaching), she will be saved by Christ, out of her current transgression.

If “she” means Eve, then “they” probably means the women of the church-- her daughters, who, if they continue in faith, love and holiness with clear-headedness, will bring the salvation that comes through the birth of Christ, to Eve (as a metaphor for womankind).

But in any event, there is no compelling reason to interpret these verses as saying, "Let women keep quiet, for God forbids them to ever teach or have any authority over men in the church. Women's role is to learn and to teach other women, but they can never teach men, because they were created second and moreover became deceived. But they will be saved from deception if they will accept their place and have babies in submission and holiness." This is simply not what the passage says.

The question that remains is, why did more accurate readings become so obscured? I think there is a reason for that.

Recent research indicates that during the earliest years of the church, when believers were meeting in houses, women had prominent roles in house leadership. The house was, after all, the woman’s particular domain. 1 Corinthians 1:11 refers to “those of Chloe’s household.” And Colossians 4:15 says “Greet Nympha, and the church that meets at her house.” These women were almost certainly leaders of house churches. If not, Paul would have been extremely remiss in greeting only the hostess of a church that met at her house, but neglecting to greet the actual leader!

But over the years, churches began to grow too large to meet in homes, and at the same time, as Christianity became more accepted, it also became more organized and structured. The idea of women doing anything in public was still shameful in much of the culture. Desiring to spread the gospel, churches followed the advice of Paul in fitting in with the surrounding cultures except in areas of conscience. “What shall we do with our woman leaders?” was the thought on the mind of the church as a whole. It became convenient to find a Scriptural basis for women not teaching-- and by this time, Paul’s letters had been around long enough for the situations in which he wrote to begin to be forgotten.

The rest, as they say, is history.

So. . . Having interpreted the Scriptures in this way, it still remains to find its application for us as part of the New Creation kingdom of God, living in the modern world. Even though Paul’s words in 1 Timothy 2:11-15 are most likely a situational mandate referring to a particular policy he set for a particular church at one particular time, this is still part of the God-inspired canon of Scripture, and there is still something we can learn from it today.

I believe there are timeless principles that are being conveyed even within this time-bound passage. Once we understand what Paul was probably really saying to Timothy, and what Paul probably wasn’t really saying-- then we can then figure out how Paul’s words might apply to us.

Here are the principles that I think we can deduce from this passage, which can be applied today:

1. All Christians, male and female, are to be taught the basic doctrines of their faith.

2. The doctrines of the faith are to be received in a quiet, receptive, yielding state of mind.

3. It’s important that a Christian learn the basics of the faith before attempting to become a teacher of others.

4. Teaching that domineers over others is not acceptable.

5. A person who is “deluded” or “deceived” can still be saved by Christ.

What I cannot see in this passage is any reason to restrict all women in the church today, as Paul restricted women (or a woman) in first-century Ephesus. The situations that existed in first-century Ephesus do not exist today. Christian women today are not uneducated; they are not influenced by the worship of Artemis, and they are not imbibing the teachings of gnosticism.

Which brings us to principle #6: Church leaders can set policies for their individual churches, to deal with specific situations there at specific times, which need not apply to all churches everywhere.

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I am indepted to Cheryl Schatz's website, Women in Ministry, for her insights into this passage.

Monday, November 7, 2011

This series continues here with Step 5: Determine the most likely meaning of the passage in question, with a view towards the meaning of the words in their original language, along with grammar and construction.

I'll start with the word meanings, grammar and construction. This gets pretty detailed, so if you get bored, feel free to wait for Part 4, where I'll do the "determine the most likely meaning" part.

I'm not a Greek scholar myself, so I'm indebted to Suzanne McCarthy and Philip Payne for their information on the words and grammar of this passage of Scripture.

But the place to start is with English translations. Here is the passage in the KJV:

11. Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection.12. But I suffer not a woman to teach nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.13. For Adam was first formed, then Eve.14. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.15. Notwithstanding, she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety.

Here is the passage in the TNIV:

11. A woman should learn in quietness and full submission.12. I do not permit a woman to teach or to assume authority over a man; she must be quiet. 13. For Adam was formed first, then Eve.14. And Adam was not the one deceived; it was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner.15. But women will be saved through childbearing-- if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

How close are either of these versions to the wording in the actual Greek?

In verse 11 the KJV says “in silence,“ but the Greek words do not denote absolute silence, but means something more like “in quietness” or “in peace.“ The KJV also uses the definite article “the” before “woman” in verse 11, and before “man” in the second sentence. In the original, there is no definite article here before either “woman” or “man.” In the absence of a definite article, a noun can mean one general thing (“a woman”) or a collective set of things (“womankind”) or a particular thing (“this certain woman”). The grammatical construction of a particular passage will give additional clues as to which is meant.

The TNIV uses the indefinite article “a” to denote this, and renders “silence” more accurately as “quietness.”

It’s also important to notice that the word “learn” is the only word in this passage that is in the imperative (command) tense.

In verse 12, the word translated “suffer” or “permit,“ is a Greek word that usually connoted a temporary state of affairs. In the tense Paul uses, it does not imply “I never permit” so much as “I am not giving permission.” It is not worded as a command, but as a statement of what “I” -- Paul-- does.

Both these translations avoid “exercise authority” in verse 12. Some translations render it this way, as I mentioned in Part 2-- but the Greek word for the normal use of authority is not used here. The Greek verb is “authentein” (authenteo in the verb conjugation). This word appears only once in the New Testament, in this verse. No Greek dictionary or lexicon gives “have authority” or “exercise authority” as a possible translation of this word. Here are the possible definitions from a well-known lexicon:

1) one who with his own hands kills another or himself2) one who acts on his own authority, autocratic3) an absolute master4) to govern, exercise dominion over one

Clearly what “a woman” is forbidden to do is not simply to “have authority.” The TNIV renders it “assume authority over” and the KJV says “usurp authority over” -- both of which are closer to the actual verb meaning-- to seize authority that has not been granted, to domineer. Also, that conjunction word between “teach” and “usurp authority” in the original is a is a word that links the two verbs together, giving them the same weight in the sentence. “Teach” by itself is not what is being addressed here. It is “teach-and-domineer,” as a unit.

Verse 13 is fairly terse and simple. Adam was formed first, then Eve. The issue is not what this verse says, but how Paul is using this information.

In verse 14, Neither version above accurately renders the verb tense in “was in the transgression” or “became a sinner.” Both of these are past tense, denoting something that happened in the past. But the actual verb tense is the perfect tense, and is better rendered “has come to be in sin.” The perfect tense refers to a present, ongoing state of affairs-- implying not only that “the woman” (and the definite article does appear in the original this time) not only was in sin, but still is. Note also that while both Adam and Eve are referred to in one sentence, in the following sentence it switches to “Adam” and “the woman.”

In verse 15 the TNIV takes what in the last sentence are actually two distinct pronouns (“she“ and “they“), and puts in the word “women” for “she,” obscuring the difference which is clear in the original. The KJV does accurately show the Greek pronouns here: “she” shall be saved if “they” continue in faith, etc. It is not common in Greek any more than in English to switch from a singular to a plural pronoun in the middle of sentence when referring to the same noun. Paul was an educated man and a scholar. It is very unlikely that he would have made such an amateur mistake. Since the original says first “she” and then “they,” Paul is almost certainly referring to two different nouns from earlier in the text-- not the same one.

The Greek also includes the definite article “the” before the word “childbearing.” “Childbearing” can also be rendered “childbirth.” “The childbearing” is most likely to mean not just childbearing in general, but a specific childbearing or childbirth. In fact, since the passage makes reference to Eve, whose “seed” was to “crush the serpent’s head,” it is quite likely that Paul is referring to “the childbearing” in terms of this “seed”-- that is, the birth of the Christ. The word “saved” here is a word that means “spiritual salvation.” It is the word commonly used when speaking of what Christ came to do for humanity. Having a baby cannot save anyone. But the birth of the Child can save everyone.

We must also note that the words for “woman” and “man” in the Greek could also mean “wife” and “husband.” There are no separate words for “wife” or “husband” in the Greek. In fact, some English translations say, “I do not permit a wife to teach . . . a husband.” It is actually the norm in Koine Greek, when a man and a woman are being discussed together in the same passage, for the reader to consider them related by marriage (since there are no separate words for “husband” and “wife” in the Greek.) The translators must do their best with the context, to figure out which is meant. But when a the context is ambiguous (as this one manifestly is!) it’s hard to be sure.

Finally, there is the word “subjection,” which is the noun form of the verb “hupotasso,“ meaning “to yield, give in to, cooperate with.“ In the voice in which it is used here, it carries a connation of voluntary yielding. Twice in the Epistles it is used in this voice to denote an attitude all Christians should have towards one another (Eph. 5:21, 1 Peter 5:5). The word does not mean “obedience” -- there is another Greek word for that which Paul distinguishes from this word. He never uses the Greek word for “obey” as an instruction to wives or women about husbands or men.

Now, to bring this all together, here is a translation from the Concordant Literal New Testament, which closely follows the Greek in terms of singular and plural pronouns, actual verb tenses, etc.

Let a woman be learning in quietness with all subjection. Now I am not permitting a woman to be teaching nor yet to be domineering over a man, but to be in quietness. For Adam was first molded, thereafter Eve, and Adam was not seduced, yet the woman, being deluded, has come to be in the transgression Yet she shall be saved through the child bearing, if ever they should be remaining in faith and love and holiness with sanity.

So-- having looked closely at the original Greek, what is the most likely meaning of this passage? That will be covered in Part 4.

Saturday, November 5, 2011

Part 2 of my analysis of 1 Timothy 2:11-15 focuses on Step 4 of a five-step process that takes literary and historical context into account before honing in on a reading of the actual passage in question. Afterwards, before proceeding to the last step, I will talk a little bit about how this process casts in doubt the traditional, restrictionist view of this passage as being Paul's actual, intended meaning.

So on to Step 4: Determine the place of the passage in question within the purpose and literary context of this particular book of the Bible.

This book is a personal letter written by Paul to his "true son in the faith," Timothy. It is not intended, therefore, to function in the same way the "general" letters do, as exhortations to whole congregations. Timothy was Paul's most trusted delegate in his mission. Paul's purpose in writing this particular letter to Timothy is given in chapter 1, verse 3: "as I urged you when I went into Macedonia, stay there in Ephesus so that you may command certain persons not to teach false doctrines any longer." Later, Paul expands upon this purpose in chapter 3, verses 14-15: "Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household." The church is being viewed as a "household," which in those days meant a large family unit that functioned as both a family and an economic enterprise. Paul's purpose, then, is to instruct Timothy in a temporary mission while Paul is away: to stop the spread of false doctrine and to make sure the church is acting in such a way as to be a healthy family unit and a productive center for the spread of the gospel. (Note that though this letter has been denoted as a "pastoral" epistle, for the purpose of instruction to a young pastor-- that is not Timothy's actual function or mission at the time of this letter. Paul is clearly intending to return to a church he considers a special charge of his own. He is not turning over leadership of this church to Timothy; in fact, there are already local leaders in place. But Paul wants Timothy to make sure the local leadership of this church, in the form of "overseers" and "deacons," is are properly qualified and functioning as they should. There was no such thing as a "senior pastor" at this stage in church development. Churches were run by groups of leaders, checked in on by an apostle like Paul. But Timothy will not be this church's "overseer." Timothy's mission is temporary.

Paul's letter is set up as follows:

Greeting and purpose statement: false doctrinePaul's view of his own former errors and God's mercyCharge to Timothy to hold onto faith and a good conscienceInstructions regarding prayer and worship with an eye to the community being allowed to "live peaceful and quiet lives," and with an eye to the desire of God that all people "be saved and come to knowledge of the truth."The verses in question (I'll get back to those in Step 5)Qualifications for overseers and deaconsReiteration and expansion of purpose statementA quotation of an oral tradition regarding the nature of the Christ (true doctrine)Description of false doctrines that are a problem at Ephesus with exhortation to Timothy to repudiate them and teach true doctrineTreatment of elders, and the maintaining of a "list" of widows to receive careExhortation that everyone take care of their own dependents "so that no one may be open to blame."The problem of younger widowsInstructions to Timothy to give honor to the local leaders who are doing right and to rebuke those who are sinning.A brief aside about Timothy's own healthInstructions to give to slavesA warning to be on watch for money-loving as a motivation for false teachersA command to Timothy to keep himself pure and to exhort the rich not to put their trust in moneyA final exhortation about guarding against false teaching

So that's the letter as a whole, and where the passage fits into it. And here's the main areas where I think the traditional reading is incorrect.

The traditional/restrictionist reading is inconsistent in its interpretational methods. While insisting on the timelessness of "I do not permit a woman to teach," the traditional reading treats the verses immediately preceding, about men lifting their hands when they pray and women not wearing gold and pearls, as cultural and temporary. The traditional interpretation extracts the principles of these verses (men should pray in a holy manner and women should dress modestly), and keeps those, but not the “plain meaning,” which involves the lifting of hands and a prohibition against certain kinds of clothing and hairstyles.

The restrictionist reading then insists that in spite of the culturally-bound nature of the preceding verses, the prohibition against women teaching is not cultural and temporary, but timeless. The reason given for this is that Paul “grounds” the prohibition in the creation order by citing the Adam and Eve story. This is done without adequate justification as to how the creation story makes the prohibition timeless. Readings such as “Adam was in authority over Eve even before the Fall” or “because Eve was deceived, all women are easily deceived” involves reading meanings into Paul‘s words, and into the Genesis account, that are not supported by the actual texts.

Second, the traditional reading is inconsistent in that it discounts the "plain meaning" of the verses immediately following, which (if read according to "plain meaning") say that women are saved by having babies. It then insists that the “plain meaning“ of "I do not permit a woman to teach or exercise authority* over a man" is: "no woman shall be a pastor or an elder," or "no woman shall give a teaching 'from the pulpit' during a church service.“ These are actually not “plain” readings of the text at all-- but even if they were, it is problematic to insist that we have to take these verses for exactly what the restrictionists claim they say, when the restrictionists themselves do not follow the plain meaning a few verses later. Instead, they say women will be "saved" from being deceived if they accept their role as child-bearers. They are unwilling to contradict the doctrine of salvation by grace through faith alone, even for women-- so they change the meaning of "saved" and "through" and "child-bearing."

The traditional/restrictionist reading, through these inconsistencies, reveals an ongoing cultural bias against women having power in the church, which bias colors the interpretation. Women are allowed the benefit of the doubt when a passage's "plain reading" might appear to rob them of salvation by grace, but when a passage appears to rob them of full participation in the gifts and ministries of the Holy Spirit, who was "poured out on all flesh, on your sons and daughters" in the New Covenant-- this reading flatly denies women.

There is no place in this restrictionist reading to question whether Paul, who considered the church at Ephesus his church and was giving Timothy instructions for managing it in his absence, might actually have been saying, "This is the course of action I'm taking at this time to deal with these problems in my church. Please follow them while I'm gone." There is no room to take into account that Paul's own perceived mission was to present true doctrine, and to make sure the gospel message did not become distasteful to the surrounding culture-- which might have resulted in particular procedures, specifically for this church at that time, designed to make sure uneducated women learned correct doctrine and did not embarrass the men in an honor-shame culture. The restrictionist reading refuses to take into account that Paul did not give these instructions in a general letter to all churches, but in a personal letter to his closest right-hand man-- and that if he'd really wanted to restrict women from any authoritative or teaching roles, he should have rebuked the women that he mentions in Romans 16, rather than commending them!

But this five-step method is set up to take all those things into account, before proceeding to determine the most likely, author-intended meaning of the passage in question. Stay tuned.

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*The translation "exercise authority" is also problematic; but that's an issue for Step 5.

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

This is an example of the method I think is most likely to render an understanding of a particular passage of the Bible, which is most likely to capture the author's original intent. It's not perfect or foolproof, but it's a five-step method that thoroughly examines a text according to historical and literary context, word meanings, and place in the Bible canon. Hopefully, it will be helpful, whether or not you agree with every idea.

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Preliminary note: Based on the hermeneutical principles I think are most likely to render an accurate reading, I follow these basic ideas when looking at this passage:

A. I will look at the passage primarily in terms of narrative theology. Narrative theology says that what the Bible primarily is, is a story: the story of God's interactions with humanity, with the story of Christ in the center as the focal point. Looking at it as a story means that you interpret each thing in terms of where it belongs in the plot; and you see a progression in the human understanding of the nature of God from the earlier to the later books. The passage will be looked at in terms of where it fits in the Great Story.

B. The writer will be speaking from within his own cultural mindset, and God will accommodate His revelation to that mindset while at the same time sowing seeds for a greater understanding of the Great Commandment, "love God and love one another."

With this in mind, here are the first three of my five steps.

Step 1: Determine where this book of the Bible fits into the conversation centering around the Great Story.

The elements of the Story are: Creation; Fall; Covenant Community of Israel; Redemption through the Christ; Covenant Community of the Church; Consummation at the End of the Age. This book is part of the "Covenant Community of the Church" part of the Story. The conversation centers around what this New Covenant community is to be like. The main thing that characterizes the New Covenant Community is that rather than being centered around one chosen nation, it is centered around faith in the Christ. Therefore, the importance of who you were born to be (Jew or Gentile) has become obsolete. A central text that explains this new mindset is found in 2 Cor. 5:16-17 - "So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. . . If anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come." The Old Covenant Community was distinguished by laws that set it apart from other nations, and within that community, there were further settings apart of priests and Levites as special classes. In the New Covenant, every "tribe and language and people and nation" is "a kingdom and priests." (Rev. 5:10) There is no special class of people, no chosen nation. Acts 2 shows the inauguration of this "kingdom" in the pouring out of the Spirit on "all flesh," male and female, young and old. 1 Timothy's place in the story is as part of this New Covenant.

Step 2: Determine the larger context of the letter within the writings of its author.

Since the letter purports to be from Paul, and is in any event part of the canon of Scripture, a mainstream hermeneutic accepts it as canon and tries to fit it into its place. A major principle of literary interpretation is that the position of a writer on a particular topic is found by looking at all of his/her writings together. Paul's letters have many things to say about women; 1 Tim 2:11-15 is just one piece of the puzzle. But before working on what Paul is saying about women, it is important to take into account his own view of his general mission. A business's "mission statement" gives us a foundation of what a particular business considers its purpose for existing, which is essential to an understanding of that business. Paul, too, had a “mission statement.” What did Paul consider to be his purpose in preaching and writing?

Paul gives his mission statement in 1 Corinthians 9 and in Galatians 1. In Galatians 1 he tells the story of his "call by God's grace" and how he believes the gospel he preaches is directly from God. He expresses his commitment to the accurate transmission of his message by saying, "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let that person be under God's curse!" In 1 Cor. 9 he speaks of being "compelled" from within to preach, but also about how he adapts his message and his own behavior to the hearers: "To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win the Jews. . . to those not having the law I became like one no having the law. . . I have become all things to all people, so that by all possible means I might save some." (v. 20-22).

Paul, then, is concerned about two main things: the transmission of a “pure” gospel message, and ways to render the message acceptable to the different peoples and cultures who he wants to receive it-- which means, in part, that he and all believers must behave in ways that enhance, and not detract from, the message. Almost everything he writes has one or both of these goals in mind. Undergirding all of this is his idea of love as the very center of the gospel (1 Cor. 13). (Note how 1 Timothy fits in here: "The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith." - 1 Tim. 1:5)

Step 3: Determine the historical and cultural context of this book of the Bible.

Acts 19 tells us quite a lot about Ephesus, which is where Timothy was ministering when Paul wrote this letter to him. First of all, Paul spent at least two years there, and probably longer. The church at Ephesus is special to him; in fact, possibly more than any other church that Paul founded, the church at Ephesus was Paul's church. Second, Ephesus was famous for its temple to Artemis (Diana), the virgin goddess. Pagan worship in Ephesus was therefore centered around female priestesses. Third, it appears from this particular letter that by the time Paul wrote it, the teachings of Gnosticism were in their early development and gaining ground in the city. One of the teachings of Gnosticism was that Eve was created before Adam and that her act of giving him the fruit was an act of wisdom and goodness; that Eve was superior to Adam.

In the midst of all this, Christianity itself was viewed with suspicion by many. There were rumors that when Christians partook of the Eucharist in secret, they were actually performing acts of cannibalism. They were accused of seeking to overturn the established authority structures, etc. At the same time the Jews were accusing the Christians of being lawless and lewd.

Another prime consideration is that both Jewish and Greek customs forbade the education of women. Although there was a movement towards greater liberty among upperclass women in Rome, this was not prevalent in communities like Ephesus, far from Rome where Greek customs still prevailed. Although the worship of Artemis was carried out largely by females, and though Gnosticism was teaching forms of female supremacy, Ephesus was a city in which ordinary women were largely denied education. Women coming into the young Christian church, therefore, would be likely to be uneducated, influenced by Artemis-worship, and attracted to doctrines of female superiority in the rising Gnostic beliefs.

About Me

I'm a 51-year-old Christian from the Pacific Northwest: paralegal, mother of two, wife of 26 years, with a BA in English from the University of Oregon Honors College. My thoughts on life, theology, and the universe are shared here, for whatever they might be worth. . . .

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